Michael Rooker was one of the best things about The Walking Dead's first few seasons as Merle — and now he's going to be an alien primitive, rocking the cosmos in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy.

Rooker will be playing Yondu, a "big game hunter" from the world of Centauri IV, and one of the four founding members of the Guardians. He joins a cast that reportedly includes Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Chris Pratt as Star Lord, and Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer. The film, directed by James Gunn (Super), comes out on August 1, 2014. [Deadline]